Happy holidays!

A Higher Porpoise Tai Chi is currently on Christmas break.

Classes will start again on 10 January 2021. At the moment it is looking like all classes will be online at the beginning of the year but we will have to wait and see.

I wish you a merry Christmas and all the best for 2021.🌲😀

Autumn class timetable

There are a number of changes to classes starting from September. The new class timetable is listed here. Although we are moving towards a new normal, there is still a mixture of indoor, outdoor and online classes.

Now that I can plan classes with a bit more certainty, though, monthly discounts are back!😀 This is for all face-to-face classes except for the Guild Hall class which will continue in the park for now. As classes can be cancelled at short notice because of the weather a monthly discount wouldn't work. I hope to hear soon about when we can move back into the Guild Hall and will then be able to plan accordingly.

The all-classes monthly pass is also back at £30/month. This is well worth it if you plan to attend more than one class a week and includes online classes as well as face-to-face ones.

The price of single online classes is going up from £3 to £4 but there will now be a discount rate for these as well. There will be two online courses.

On Monday evenings at 7pm, there will be an 8 week introduction to Yang style 8 step form, running from 7 September to 26 October.

And on Thursday mornings at 10am, there will be a 10 week course on Yi Jin Jing Health Qigong, running from 3 September to 5 November.

You can book the whole courses at the discounted rates of £24 for the Monday evening tai chi and £30 for the Thursday morning qigong. You can also continue to book classes one at a time as you attend, but the price is now £4/session.

Online Health Qigong Class - Five Animal Frolics

While we are taking the long road back to normality, online qigong classes will continue. From 15 July to 26 August at 10am on Wednesdays we will be doing Wu Qin Xi (Five Animal Frolics) Health Qigong®.

This qigong set was developed by Dr Hua Tuo around 25-220 CE. The gentle and harmonious movements of Wu Qin Xi represent the spirit of the five animals - the power of the tiger, the ease of the deer, the steadiness and calmness of the bear, the dexterity of the monkey and the agility of the bird.

Qigong is an internal Chinese meditative practice with over 3000 years of history, which often uses slow graceful movements and controlled breathing techniques. The Chinese believe that this gentle exercise, which incorporates the mind, breathing and body, helps to cultivate and promote circulation of qi within the human body, thus enhancing a practitioner’s overall health. The Chinese character for qi can mean air, breath or life force. Gong means work, so qigong is therefore the practice of “working” with one’s “life force”.

Health Qigong® began in the early 2000s when a group of China's best qigong masters, TCM professors, and medical and sports experts were brought together by the Chinese National Sports Council and Chinese Health Qigong Association to conduct in-depth research and assessment of the beneficial effects qigong brings to our daily lives. Developed based on ancient Chinese traditional yin yang theory (harmony between humans and nature, harmony between mind and body), it follows the theories of the functions of the internal organs and meridians as well as the principles of circulation of qi and blood in the human body.

Classes are online via Zoom and are £3/session. Contact me here if you would like to join in.

Indoor tai chi is back (soon) :)

It has been announced today that from 25 July indoor gyms, leisure centres and other indoor exercise will be allowed.

This is good news but it doesn't mean that all indoor classes will be starting up again from that date as procedures need to be agreed with each centre for the safe start-up of classes.

Dates I have so far are as follows:

Wednesday 29 July: 2.30pm class at Hurst Dance Studios will restart. Until then it will continue in Leyland Park.
Tuesday 1 September: 10am tai chi at Leigh South Community Centre will restart. Until then it will be in Pennington Park.
Wednesday 2 September 10am qigong at Leigh South Community Centre will restart. Until then it will be online.

I will let you know dates for other classes as I get them.

Tai chi in the park

We are now allowed to meet up outside in groups of six, as long as we practise social distancing, so it seems like a good time for tai chi in the park. I will be continuing with online classes but am going to try a couple of small outside classes, weather permitting, venues below. For these to work I need to strictly restrict class size to five people. This means that you do need to book in advance for every class. These classes will be £6/class. There is no monthly discount because I don't know how long they will continue, but like the online classes you can pay for more than one class at a time if you want to. Contact me to book a place. 😀

• Mondays, 10am-11am, Walkden Park, Walkden Road, Walkden, M28 7EA, Yang 24 step form.
• Mondays, 11.15am-12.15pm, Walkden Park, Walkden Road, Walkden, M28 7EA, Yang 24 step form.
• Wednesdays, 2.30pm-3.30pm, Leyland Park, Leyland Avenue, Hindley, Wigan, WN2 3SB, Yang 8 step form.

World Tai Chi and Qigong Day

Hi everyone

I hope you are enjoying the bank holiday weekend.

As you know, World Tai Chi and Qigong Day was rescheduled this year because of lockdown. The revised date is next Saturday 30 May, and as we will still be in lockdown we are going to have another online celebration.

There will be qigong with Anna Kiriakoulakis, Angela Howarth will focus on Grasping the Bird's Tail, I will be doing Beijing 10 step and Barbara Shields will finish up with Yi Jin Jing.

Places are limited so please let me know if you would like to book a place.

Online tai chi/qigong classes still free

All online classes next week, 20-26 April, will still be free. After that they will be £3/session. Classes are listed here. Email me at taiji@ahigherporpoise.com to book a place.

Online tai chi and qigong classes

By ItsLassieTime - Own work, Public Domain, Link

Hope you all have a happy Easter, safe and well at home.

I'll be starting a free trial of online Zoom classes next week.

On Tuesday at 10 am will be tai chi and then Wednesday at 10 am will be qigong. The classes will be shorter than normal at about 40 minutes.

If you would like to take part let me know and I will send you the meeting code and password before the class.

All classes cancelled until further notice

Hi everyone. The prime minister has announced today that pubs, restaurants, night clubs, theatres, cinemas, gyms and leisure centres will close. In light of this I have decided that all classes will be cancelled until further notice. Stay safe and well.

Classes cancelled this week

Hi everyone

I have been down with a cold over the weekend which has turned into a cough this morning. There are a lot of bugs going around at the moment and I have no reason to believe it is Covid19, but to be on the safe side I am cancelling classes this week.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I wish you all a happy and prosperous 2020. Classes start again next week - I look forward to seeing you there. :)